‘Wouldn’t be around’: Sam Neill’s surprise cancer update
Source: White Wine Question Time
Actor Sam Neill has revealed he “wouldn’t be around” if it weren’t for recent advancements in cancer treatment.
The 77-year-old Jurassic Park actor was diagnosed with stage three angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma.
His diagnosis with the blood cancer came after he noticed swollen glands during publicity for Jurassic World Dominion in March 2022.
Neill took a break from acting and initially had chemotherapy, but it stopped working after three months. Doctors switched the British-born, New Zealand-raised star to to a rare anti-cancer drug, which led him into remission.
This week, Neill told podcaster Kate Thornton that it was only thanks to “strides” in medical treatment in the past 20 years that there were better survival rates for people like him.
“I’m in remission and as you see, I’m hard at work and enjoying life immensely,” he said.
“I’m very grateful for not just the wonderful care I’ve had from doctors and nurses and so on, but also the strides that have been made in treating these things in the last few years.
“If this had happened to me 20 years ago, I wouldn’t be around to talk to you.”
Neill said he had infusions monthly.
“It used to be three times a month and it’s down to once a month now,” he said.
The treatments will continue indefinitely. Even so, The Twelve star told the ABC’s Australian Story in 2023 that doctors had advised him the new drug would also eventually fail.
“I’m prepared for that,” Neill said.
“I know I’ve got it, but I’m not really interested in it. It’s out of my control. If you can’t control it, don’t get into it.”
In the meantime, he told Thornton this week, he had good days and bad between his treatments.
“You have sort three or four horrible days afterwards, and then all is well and you cheer up and I go to the gym and all that,” he said.
Neill has appeared in more than 70 films, working alongside actors including Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, Judy Davis and Jeff Goldblum.
His Hollywood roles include Dr Allan Grant in the Jurassic Park films, and as a tough Irish cop in Peaky Blinders. He also starred in The Hunt for Red October, Event Horizon and The Piano.
His Australian body of work includes The Dish and My Brilliant Career.
When not acting, his favourite sideline is his Two Paddocks vineyards venture on New Zealand’s South Island.
